A giant virus infecting the amoeboflagellate Naegleria

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47308-2

#viruses #giantViruses #microbiology

A giant virus infecting the amoeboflagellate Naegleria - Nature Communications

This is the first report on a virus infecting the amoeboflagellate Naegleria, including the lethal human pathogen N. fowleri.

^Nature

Another interesting study suggesting that giant viruses can control phototaxis in their hosts during infection

"Hijacking of internal calcium dynamics by intracellularly residing viral rhodopsins"

"... we show here that light irradiation reversibly modified tail movements of OLPVR1-expressing frog tadpoles."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-44548-6

#viruses #GiantViruses #virology

Hijacking of internal calcium dynamics by intracellularly residing viral rhodopsins - Nature Communications

Rhodopsins are ubiquitous light-driven membrane proteins that have diverse functions in nature, and value as optogenetics tools.

^Nature

Gene duplication as a major force driving the genome expansion in some giant viruses

https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/jvi.01309-23

#GiantViruses #viruses #virology #genomics

Kratosvirus quantuckense: the history and novelty of an algal bloom disrupting virus and a model for giant virus research

https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1284617

#viruses #marine #ocean #HAB #GiantViruses

Kratosvirus quantuckense: the history and novelty of an algal bloom disrupting virus and a model for giant virus research

Since the discovery of the first “giant virus,” particular attention has been paid toward isolating and culturing these large DNA viruses through Acanthamoeba spp. bait systems.

^Frontiers

Latest taxonomic update for giant viruses, including a new name for the famous mimivirus (now Mimivirus bradfordmassiliense)

Taxonomy for the titans of the virosphere!

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00705-023-05906-3

#GiantViruses #viruses #virology

Taxonomic update for giant viruses in the order Imitervirales (phylum Nucleocytoviricota) - Archives of Virology

Large DNA viruses in the phylum Nucleocytoviricota, sometimes referred to as “giant viruses” owing to their large genomes and virions, have been the subject of burgeoning interest over the last decade.

^SpringerLink

#GiantViruses encode many strange genes in their genomes - partial TCA cycles, actins and myosins, nutrient transporters, etc

What are they doing with all of these crazy genes?

We discuss this in a recent article - big thanks to all of the collaborators who were willing to help write an extensive review!

Virologs, viral mimicry, and #virocell metabolism: the expanding scale of cellular functions encoded in the complex genomes of giant #viruses

https://academic.oup.com/femsre/article/47/5/fuad053/7280998?login=false

#virology

Virophages are viruses that infect giant viruses, typically resulting in a lower burst size for the giant virus. In our latest preprint we report virophage-like sequences associated with insect poxviruses.

Their genomes of these elements are really interesting. This also opens up the possibility that hyperparasitic viruses are associated with a much broader range of DNA viruses than is commonly thought.

https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.16.562556

#viruses #virology #poxviruses #GiantViruses

Polinton-like Viruses Associated with Entomopoxviruses Provide Insight into Replicon Evolution

Polinton-like viruses (PLVs) are a diverse group of small integrative dsDNA viruses that infect diverse eukaryotic hosts. Many PLVs are hypothesized to parasitize viruses in the phylum Nucleocytoviricota for their own propagation and spread.

^bioRxiv

Nice study on polar giant viruses!

Genomic adaptation of giant viruses in polar oceans

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41910-6

#viruses #GiantViruses #virology #oceanography #marine #ocean #polar

Genomic adaptation of giant viruses in polar oceans - Nature Communications

This study examines the biogeography and functional gene repertoires of marine eukaryote-infecting large and giant DNA viruses.

^Nature

A fantastical world of potential giant viruses lurks beneath the soil

"These and other peculiar-looking shapes “clearly tell us that we’ve underestimated how structurally diverse these viruses are,”"

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/potential-giant-viruses-soil-microbiology

#viruses #giantViruses

A fantastical world of potential giant viruses lurks beneath the soil

Giant viruses were already known for their large sizes. A close look at a scoop of soil shows that they may come in a variety of funky shapes as well.

^{Meghan Rosen (Science News Magazine)}

Phylogenetic diversity and functional potential of large and cell-associated viruses in the Bay of Bengal

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.17.548743v1

#viruses #ecology #marine #ocean #giantViruses

Phylogenetic diversity and functional potential of large and cell-associated viruses in the Bay of Bengal

The Bay of Bengal (BoB), the largest bay in the world, provides valuable ecosystem services such as fishing and recreation to millions of people living along its coast and has a significant economic value.

^bioRxiv

Amazing structural diversity of giant virus-like particles in forest soil

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.30.546935v1

#viruses #giantViruses #microbiology

Amazing structural diversity of giant virus-like particles in forest soil

Large DNA viruses of the phylum Nucleocytoviricota infect diverse eukaryotic hosts from protists to humans, with profound consequences for aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

^bioRxiv

Happy to share a collaborative preprint with Assaf Vardi's group in which we use single cell transcriptomics to link giant viruses with their native hosts during a marine algal bloom!

This approach is quite sensitive - we were able to identify viruses infecting one protist group that made up <0.5% of the community.

Homing in on the rare virosphere reveals the native host of giant viruses

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.27.546645v1

#viruses #giantViruses #ocean #marine

Homing in on the rare virosphere reveals the native host of giant viruses

Giant viruses (phylum Nucleocytoviricota) are globally distributed in aquatic ecosystems They play major roles as evolutionary drivers of eukaryotic plankton and regulators of global biogeochemical cycles.

^bioRxiv

It's been a big mystery why giant viruses encode so many proteins involved in vesicular transport and cytoskeletal dynamics. This interesting paper examined a dynamin homolog and found evidence that it's involved in mitochondrial membrane remodelling during infection.

A Novel Group of Dynamin-Related Proteins Shared by Eukaryotes and Giant Viruses Is Able to Remodel Mitochondria From Within the Matrix

https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/40/6/msad134/7190697?login=false

#viruses #GiantViruses #virology

A Novel Group of Dynamin-Related Proteins Shared by Eukaryotes and Giant Viruses Is Able to Remodel Mitochondria From Within the Matrix

Abstract. The diverse GTPases of the dynamin superfamily play various roles in the cell, as exemplified by the dynamin-related proteins (DRPs) Mgm1 and Opa1, wh

^{Sheikh, Shaghayegh (Oxford University Press)}

Our latest work on marine giant virus diversity -

Assessing the biogeography of marine giant viruses in four oceanic transects

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43705-023-00252-6

#viruses #marine #ocean #giantviruses

Assessing the biogeography of marine giant viruses in four oceanic transects - ISME Communications

ISME Communications - Assessing the biogeography of marine giant viruses in four oceanic transects

^Nature